Hamlet

Description
Tickets are free (only two per person) and may be picked up only on the day of performance after 1pm at the Delacorte Theater. A limited number of tickets are also distributed in a random draw at publictheater.org; see site for details. Oskar Eustis stages Shakespeare's classic unfussily and without a reductive high concept. Michbael Stuhlbarg’s sweet prince is a compound of antic fop, sickly poet and tantrum-prone manchild; Lauren Ambrose does her emotionally naked best with the impossible role of Ophelia, and Sam Waterston evokes a Polonius whose incipient senility touchingly counterpoints Hamlet’s feigned madness. If you’ve never seen the masterpiece, this is a decent place to start, but Eustis's overindulgent production—longer than three hours—begs for cuts.—David Cote